Best Practices for Structuring Content in Sanity

As the web development landscape evolves, combining Astro.js with Sanity CMS has emerged as a powerful solution for building modern websites. Today, let’s dive into the best practices for structuring your content in Sanity when working with Astro.js projects.

Understanding Content Architecture

Before diving into the technical details, it’s crucial to establish a solid foundation for your content structure. Think of your content as building blocks that need to be both flexible and maintainable.

Schema Design Principles

When designing your Sanity schemas for Astro.js projects, consider these key principles:

1. Modular Content Types

Break down your content into reusable components. Instead of creating monolithic content types, design smaller, modular pieces that can be combined in different ways. For example:

export default {
  name: 'contentBlock',
  title: 'Content Block',
  type: 'object',
  fields: [
    {
      name: 'heading',
      type: 'string',
    },
    {
      name: 'content',
      type: 'array',
      of: [{ type: 'block' }]
    }
  ]
}

2. References and Relationships

Leverage Sanity’s reference system to create relationships between content types. This approach helps maintain content consistency and enables dynamic updates across your site:

{
  name: 'author',
  type: 'reference',
  to: [{ type: 'person' }]
}

3. Portable Text for Rich Content

Utilize Portable Text for rich content editing. It provides a flexible structure that works seamlessly with Astro’s rendering system:

{
  name: 'body',
  type: 'array',
  of: [
    { type: 'block' },
    { type: 'image' },
    { type: 'code' }
  ]
}

Optimizing for Astro.js Integration

When building your Sanity schema with Astro.js in mind, consider these optimization strategies:

1. Static vs Dynamic Content

Identify which content needs to be static and which requires dynamic loading. Structure your schemas accordingly to leverage Astro’s partial hydration features effectively.

2. Image Handling

Implement proper image handling using Sanity’s asset pipeline. Define image schemas with multiple variations to support responsive designs:

{
  name: 'mainImage',
  type: 'image',
  options: {
    hotspot: true
  },
  fields: [
    {
      name: 'alt',
      type: 'string',
      title: 'Alternative Text',
    }
  ]
}

3. SEO Optimization

Include SEO-focused fields in your schemas to take advantage of Astro’s excellent SEO capabilities:

{
  name: 'seo',
  title: 'SEO Settings',
  type: 'object',
  fields: [
    {
      name: 'metaTitle',
      type: 'string',
    },
    {
      name: 'metaDescription',
      type: 'text',
    }
  ]
}

Content Validation and Governance

Implement strong validation rules to maintain content quality and consistency across your site:

1. Set up custom validation rules for different content types
2. Establish clear naming conventions for fields and types
3. Use field-level validation to ensure data integrity

Deployment and Performance Considerations

Remember to optimize your content structure for performance:

1. Use appropriate field types to minimize query complexity
2. Implement efficient content revalidation strategies
3. Consider content caching patterns for frequently accessed data

Conclusion

Following these best practices will help you create a robust content structure that leverages the best of both Sanity and Astro.js. Remember to keep your schema design flexible enough to accommodate future changes while maintaining a clear and organized content architecture.